Early voting has closed off in Highlands County for the mid-term elections and a passle of ballots already have been cast. Highlands County Supervisor of elections Penny Ogg says nearly 11,000 people have voted by mail and more than 12,000 went to the polls for early voting.
That’s nearly 40-percent of the registered voters here.
The polls will open in all 25 locations tomorrow morning at 7:00 for Election Day and the final tallies will be counted tomorrow night to determine the voice of the voters.
It took them a while, but Highlands County Sheriff’s Deputies were able to root out a suspect following reports of an attempted break-in at a home on Wolf Creek Road south of Sebring.
According to reports, the suspect fled into a heavily wooded area. Deputies, with the assist of K-9s and the Polk County Sheriff’s helicopter located Robert William McGee. He was charged with attempted burglary of an occupied dwelling, possession of burglary tools and violation of probation.
He was taken to the Highlands county jail.
Nearly three dozen students from the Highlands County Schools STEM Program – or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – got san opportunity to visit the Sebring Regional Airport and hear from some of the business people in the Industrial Park there.
Representatives of Lockwood Aviation Supply, Ariens, Technam North America and Turf Care supply addressed the teens. They also had a chance to sit in some of the high-performance aircraft in town of the International Aerobatic competition, being held at the airport.
A Confederate soldier monument will be moving from Lakeland’s downtown park now that money has been found to pay for it.
The city commission voted to use $225,000 from red light camera violations to move the monument from Munn Park in Lakeland’s downtown to a local park dedicated to veterans. The move is expected to be completed by Jan. 31.
The commission voted in May to move the statue to the veterans park but provided no taxpayer money to pay for it. Private donations fell well short of the amount needed.
The statue, like many others across the South, depicts a generic Confederate soldier atop a pediment. Some commissioners said the veterans’ park is a more appropriate site for the monument.